A/N: This is only a prologue I wrote a while ago…lots more interesting things to come later though. The title is definitely subject to change.

To Be

(Swift Introductions)

Eerie; this was the only word that could describe the strange place harboured deep underground. On the outside, it was nothing more than a slate gray building with ragged words carved into the upper right. GenX. That was it. A long, rectangular building with the word “GenX” carved into it.

One could go inside and see nothing but a receptionist desk and beyond that, hundreds of cubicles. It was a sad excuse for an office building; many had said that had been to see it. No one in their right mind would want to work there. Dreary, quiet, and depressed were the first words that came to mind.

But beneath there was something more.

(Don’t judge a book by its cover...)

It was all made of metal. There was nothing that could be classified as “organic”. Odd beeping, ringing sounds, and seldom alarms were the only noises. Sans the intelligent human conversations every now and then. They didn’t need to talk or give reports, computers ran the whole operation.

(If you could call them computers…)

A man dressed in an ornate white lab coat took measured steps down the unfurnished corridor, occasionally turning his attention to the glass window and alcove beside him. Lines of small test-tube like tanks were pressed up the wall, directing attention to the empty middle of the circular room.

All of the tanks were filled with a red fluid and illuminated by a gigantic light that took up most of the ceiling. But it was not the sparse emptiness of the room that had captured his attention; it was the grotesque beings inside the tanks.

Most of them lay in silence, posed upright, with eyes shut and a death-like shadow looming over them. Some were definable between male and female and others so disfigured, they could not even be called monsters.

Failed Experiments.

The words boomed in his head, a constant reminder of the horror he faced everyday. But it would all be worth it in the end…He was no one outside the organization, nothing to people, hell he didn’t even exist in the “real world” as his colleagues so affectionately called it. He could marry within the company, have children who would be raised to carry on the Project, and die. That was it. Just die. Nothing special, he’d been informed of this before agreeing to begin the Project. But he had no life and was exceptionally talented in the field of genetics. So they had called on him.

And he’d accepted. So now he was Mamoru Chiseiteki, first class geneticist on Experiment 343. It had been several years ago that 343 had begun so he was fairly new; the experiment was somewhat around sixteen, seventeen maybe? But that could only be classed for looks, enhanced nutrients and many chemicals had sped up the growth process of 343 making it almost impossible to tell how old it really was. Only the ones who had been responsible for 343’s creation really knew all the details, other persons who had been admitted to the team were allowed to know what they had learned or contributed.

A sickening scratching sound broke him out of his reverie as blaring alarms began to sound. The compound seemed to break out into chaos as one of the things that had been contained within the tanks shattered the glass. What was even worse was that the glass window that was hundreds of feet above was sound proof.

The horribly flawed figure thrashed its finger-like claws about and gasped for breath, exposing one long pointed fang in the left side of its mouth.

Mamoru suppressed a shudder. No matter how many times he’d seen something like this happen it was always disturbing. A creature capable of making noises so loud, they surpassed sound-proof barriers. He wondered what purpose it had been created to fulfill.

The only reasons such failed experiments were kept in hopes of modification to fix the flaws that had made them so unstable in the first place.

Warning lights began to blink on in a domino type fashion along the floor. Steam hissed from vents in high pitched whistles, stirring some of the once-humans trapped in the amniotic fluids. The escaped creature seemed to understand what was going on and a panicked look flashed across its face. It let out a piercing howl and ripped a strip of metal out of the wall with almost no trouble at all. Cords whipped out, spraying sparks of electricity.

A thin crack began to elongate and bridge out in a spider-web on the window Mamoru was currently staring out of. At this point it probably would’ve been wise to move back and leave through the door before security upped its defenses and initiated its airlock sequence. But he was transfixed by the scene below.

Circular pipelines opened in the walls one after another and began to spout a syrupy black substance. The creature, which Mamoru could now see had broke out of a tube labeled “109”, was darting away from the lava-like gelatin as though it were poison. With a quick movement, 109 was on top of its original tube crying in an animalistic fashion of distress.

They were going to be flushed.

Mamoru had heard of it from others but had never actually seen the event take place. Now courtesy of 109, all the failed experiments that had once had chances of new life were going to be flushed. Gone. Dead. Destroyed.

Slowly, locks began clicking in the floor, and eventually it opened up fully, disposing of 109, the other experiments, and the black fluid. Water had now replaced it and was swirling around, cleansing the room.

Small droplets began to seep through the cracks. Someone hit the young scientist hard in the shoulder, breaking his contact with the soothing hum of the whirlpool of water.

“Keep moving Chiseiteki.” An emotionless voice growled from behind him. Without bothering to look or vaguely wonder how the bodiless voice (a/n: yes he’s pretty drugged up.) knew his name, he continued walking towards the door that would bring him to his lab station. Dreamily, he typed in the password on the security panel and felt the click and whoosh of the door sliding open.

Compared to most rooms in the lab facilities, this one was barely lit, only kept illuminated by the cylindrical tank of lime green liquid situated in the center of the room and the glittering computer screens surrounding it. Thick wires and cords jutted out from the bottom, making it look very much like exposed tree roots. Occasionally the silver base of the tube would click and rotate.

Mamoru moved quickly and quietly to a keyboard on the far left of the tube, nodding at his associates. His thin fingers swept across the keys in a flurry of clicking sounds. Most people would be extremely impressed at his typing speed and ability to read up so fast.

Welcome to GenX Systems. You have requested Project term 1: Alpha.

Accessing Main servers…access granted.

A toneless female voice sounded through the system.

Accessing Local Intranet…Password required:

Mamoru entered the password lazily with one hand.

Access Denied.

He raised an eyebrow and cocked his head in the direction of Aleksandra Moskvina, one of the technicians helping run the equipment. She grinned evilly.

“Sorry little man, changed the password not but a couple of hours ago.” her Russian accent prominent in her speech. “Rraj is the new one. Figures, eh?” Aleksandra inquired, referring to the headman of the Experiment, Michail Rraj.

Mamoru stayed quiet, the last thing he wanted was to bash his boss’ name. He didn’t have that much authority when it came to such things, but Alek (as Mamoru called her) was reckless and didn’t have much good judgment. But she was extremely talented when it came to machines of any kind, so her help was useful.

Password Accepted. You may now access Data Files for Experiments 300 – 350.

343 has been selected.

Locating Codename…Located.

Sub-division of Alpha: Prototype: 01…Files Downloading.

Term 1 of 3 has been downloaded.

The computer paused for a second before bringing up Mamoru’s desired information on the main screen. Various diagrams and formulas began to appear on the screen followed by several lines and monitors that kept 343’s vitals in check. At the top of the monitor, in a larger font, read 343 Alpha Prototype: The Cybernetic Assassin 01.